Mark Cavendish was involved in angry Twitter exchanges after escaping
relatively unscathed from a horrifying crash at almost 50mph in Denmark on
Monday.

Image 1 of 4

War wounds: Mark Cavendish suffered some nasty road rash after the Briton was taken out by Italy's Roberto Ferrari as the speeding bunch geared up for a sprint finish at the end of stage three at the Giro d'Italia in Horsens, DenmarkPhoto: AP

Image 1 of 4

Look out: the Manxman can be seen lying on the road as the bunch zooms past , and over, the sprinter following his fallPhoto: AFP

Image 1 of 4

Back on the bike: Cavendish, in obvious discomfort and crosses the finishing line of stage three in 172nd spotPhoto: AFP

He was at risk of serious injury when he was taken out by Italy’s Roberto Ferrari at the finish of stage three of the Giro d’Italia.

Cavendish hit the tarmac after Ferrari, with plenty of room to his left, suddenly veered wildly to the right 200 metres from the finish, giving the world champion no chance of evasive action.

Arnaud Démare, also with no chance of changing direction, rode straight over Cavendish while Elia Favilli, with a fraction more time, executed a bunny-hop over Cavendish altogether; a remarkable feat of bike handling that may have saved Cavendish from more serious injury. Race leader Taylor Phinney also crashed, although he remains in the race.

Cavendish bounced up fairly quickly and carried his bike over the line to ensure he is able to continue for the rest of the three-week race. The leaders had been clocked at 47mph as they sprinted for the line.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Michael Barry - Riders should be heavily fined and suspended for putting their co-workers livelihoods and lives at risk in the peloton. It happens too often&lt;/noframe&gt;

Ferrari, who rides for Androni-Giocattoli, was immediately relegated to 192nd place on the stage, fined, handed a 30-second time penalty and docked points by the race officials. However, he escaped expulsion.

After the stage, which was won by Matt Goss of the Orica-GreenEdge team, Cavendish tweeted: “Ouch! Crashing at 75km is not nice. Nor is seeing Roberto Ferrari’s manoeuvre. Should be ashamed to take out pink, red and world championship jerseys.”

In a later tweet he said: “Is the team of Roberto Ferrari or the UCI [International Cycling Union] going to do the right thing? Other riders including myself have been sent home for much less.”

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Greg Henderson - That was a madmans move by Ferrari. Unbelievable. That is what make bunch sprinting dangerous. Guys like him.&lt;/noframe&gt;

Cavendish sporting a road rash – scraped skin and abrasions – on his left leg and buttock, will be monitored by the Sky medical team during today’s rest day in Verona ahead of tomorrow’s team time trial. He flew with the team to Italy last night.

Even before the crash it had proved a demanding stage for all of the sprinters, who have been confronted with chaotic run-ins to the two sprint finishes in Denmark. On Sunday Cavendish and Sky – in particular Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh riding support – judged it perfectly to win the stage in textbook fashion but Cavendish lost ground on one of the right angled corners and Thomas, at the head of the peloton some 70 metres in front, sat up and looked in vain for his sprinter.

Cavendish threaded his way to the front and appeared to have a clear run-in until Ferrari intervened.